Story by Micah Collins

June 4, 2023, Victoria, BC – Kevin Shea’s (above) two-RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Victoria HarbourCats an exciting 4-3 walk-off victory over the Kamloops NorthPaws in West Coast League action Sunday afternoon at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.

FULL BOX SCORE

The win gave the HarbourCats the sweep over the NorthPaws to start the season 3-0 and send the close to 2,000 sun-baked fans home happy.

The NorthPaws started off strong, scoring two runs in the first inning off Victoria starter Davis Franklin.  They would add another in the eighth to jump into a 3-0 lead , but the HarbourCats finally got things going, scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth to decrease the NorthPaws lead to a one run game.

The ‘Cats had a chance to tie the game or even take the lead in the eighth, but a great snag of a hard-hit line drive by the NorthPaws’ first baseman Nathan Gray, robbed Victoria’s Ryan Magdic of a sure RBI double.  Gray then stepped first to force out baserunner Russell Young, ending the inning with a double play.

HarbourCats pitcher Tucker Christensen struck out three straight NorthPaws batters in the top of the ninth to keep the HarbourCats within a run.

The Challenger Baseball folks took to the diamond pre-game Sunday, to enjoy a fun day at the park.

The ‘Cats started off the bottom of the ninth strong with a single by Kai Gray, and then Bradden Kesey reached on an error by the Kamloops third baseman.  Hometown player Ty Hall then laid down a beautiful bunt single to load the bases and set the stage for Shea, who laced the first pitch he saw to left centre field, scoring the tying and winning runs and sending the HarbourCats on to the field to celebrate the series sweeping victory.

The HarbourCats will look to extend their win streak on Monday as the Walla Walla Sweets come to town for the first of a three-game set.  Both Monday and Tuesday have a 6:35 PM start time, while the Wednesday game goes at 11:00 AM for our annual School Spirit Game with Mayfair Optometric. Tickets for all games available at the gate or at harbourcats.com/tickets.

At Monday’s game, be sure to arrive early as the Greater Victoria Mixed Slo Pitch Association will be holding a home run derby prior to the game!